Today we have a Q&A with Erin McGregor, Global President of the ENABLED Employee Network (ENhancing ABilities and LEveraging Disabilities) at Chevron.

Belo Miguel Cipriani: Do you have a disability?

Erin McGregor: Yes, I had a severe repetitive stress injury (RSI) years ago — tendinitis in both arms where it was to the point that I could not wring out a washcloth, cut my own meat, and would get anxiety seeing a door knob that I would have to turn, knowing it was going to cause pain. My middle stepdaughter, Emma, is also profoundly disabled. Emma was diagnosed with a terminal illness, Metachromatic Leukodystrophy, at the age of 8. She had an experimental umbilical cord stem transplant, which has slowed the progression of the disease. She is now 24 and attends a day program for adults with disabilities. She is in a wheelchair and needs assistance with all activities of daily life. (Growing up, I was fortunate to interact with people of all abilities — my mother was a special education teacher and my aunt taught adults with developmental disabilities.)

BMC: What motivated Chevron to develop programs that support people with disabilities and their families?

EM: The motivation for Chevron to develop programs for the underserved, and specifically people with disabilities, goes back to several milestone events that eventually led to a set of guiding principles called The Chevron Way.

In 1923, the Standard Oil Spirit was created and highlighted the importance we placed on protecting people and the environment. By the 1960s, we issued a publication called What We Believe that offered our first official definition of corporate citizenship, as well as calling out the importance of documenting company values.

Throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s, company milestones showed our efforts in opposing workforce segregation, protecting the environment and fostering diversity and inclusion.

In 1995, we formally established The Chevron Way as a living document that reflected our vision, values and strategies, and we’ve continued to update The Chevron Way to reflect an evolving portfolio and employee base, increasing diversity and inclusion efforts, and increasing investor and stakeholder expectations. The Chevon Way is more than just words on paper, it is our purpose, the foundation of who we are, what we believe and our culture. And we’re taking action to ensure we continue to strengthen our values and culture.

These guiding principles set the wheels in motion for the development of strategies, programs, processes and initiatives that enabled diversity and inclusion to grow. Simply put, we want all of our employees to bring their authentic selves to work. Peak performance comes from a culture that enables every individual to realize their full potential.

Chevron’s employee networks have been an effective incubator for our diversity and inclusion efforts. We have 12 employee networks: Pride, Women, XYZ, Baby Boomer, Asian, Black, Latino, Native American, Filipino, Boola Moort, Veterans and ENABLED. These networks provide support for members, but also allow for deeper conversations on the headwinds women and minority groups face that lead to meaningful change. Our PRIDE network, which was the first organized network of employees, started more than 20 years ago.

The ENABLED Network was chartered in 2002. The network started with employees who had disabilities themselves. We began including more employees who had parents, children, or other family members who are disabled. More recently, we’ve added employees who are allies for individuals with disabilities. ENABLED currently has over 1100 members globally.

The ENABLED Employee network chapter locations are: Northern California, Pascagoula, Bakersfield, Houston, Covington, El Segundo, Venezuela, Salt Lake City, Washington DC; New chapter locations: Manila (2019), AMBU (2019-20)

Chevron ENABLED Network’s mission is to foster a broad understanding of the issues related to disabilities and their impact throughout Chevron; and to promote heightened awareness of their relevance in attaining and maintaining a productive and inclusive work environment where perceptions of people are based on their abilities, not their disabilities.

BMC: What disability programs were developed and deployed first?

EM: We’ve supported both internal and external disability related programs. Internally, we wanted to build awareness regarding different types of disabilities. We have had educational awareness sessions and guest speakers on a variety of topics, including things like diabetic alert dogs, Alzheimer’s, caregiving, mental health, and so many more. Employees have volunteered for years with the Special Olympics at many sites, we’ve supported local programs such as Mychal’s Learning Place in Southern California, the Kiwanis Aktion Club of South Mississippi, On Track (program for adults with acquired brain injury) in Concord, CA, and The League of Dreams in Bakersfield, CA.

BMC: What programs took longer to develop and why?

EM: Some programs are more complex and involve many different functions within the organization. We have a few recent examples:

• The ENABLED Network helped to advocate for the Addition of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) coverage for autism or pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) to the benefit program for U.S.-payroll employees in 2018. This benefit is widely recognized as the most effective behavioral intervention for children with autism.
• Chevron and Texas Workforce Solutions Vocational Rehabilitation Services (TWS-VRS) worked in collaboration to develop and implement Chevron Day. This opportunity is specifically for students with disabilities in the VR program, providing career exploration and mentorship with a STEM focus. We just completed our 3^rd year program.
• The Chevron Stations Inc. retail convenience stores network is actively supporting the Chevron Corporation’s ongoing efforts in promoting an inclusive workplace for people with disabilities through our Chevron Stations, Inc. (CSI) ENABLES Program Pilot.
  • Program Goals
    • Provide opportunities to people with disabilities and mental health diagnoses to help them strengthen their workplace abilities and build life skills.
    • Adapt CSI hiring processes to accommodate / attract a more diverse work force
    • Visibly demonstrate and execute Chevron’s commitment to employee diversity & inclusion.
  • Program Overview
    • Nine employees hired through local employment agency partnership – all of whom are on the Autism spectrum
    • Part-time target of 20 hours / employee per week
    • Core position roles / responsibilities: cleaning, stocking, general stations maintenance / support
    • Initial 100% on-site employment agency job coach support provided to Chevron
    • Each employee has on-going development support from CSI
  • Next Steps
    • Possible further expansion in Fall, 2019

BMC: Chevron received a perfect score of 100 in the 2019 DEI, being recognized as one of the best companies for those with disabilities. Was receiving this honor something Chevron set as a goal?

EM: Our involvement with the Disability Equality Index, has grown over the years. Chevron was initially involved with Disability: IN from the supplier diversity perspective. This year was our first time to participate from a corporate perspective. The criteria for the rating focus on the support of people with disabilities throughout business processes and procedures, benefits and accommodations, web accessibility as well as our company culture. We will continue on our journey of disability inclusion and are always learning more ways to support inclusion here at Chevron.

BMC: Chevron supports the work of several artists with disabilities. What type of art does Chevron sponsor, and how can artists submit their work for consideration?

EM: In our efforts to support the communities in which we work, Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development (NIAD) is an organization in Richmond, CA where Chevron has a refinery. Chevron has supported NIAD for many years. Through NIAD, we support local artists with disabilities by showcasing more than 40 pieces of artwork by 25 different NIAD artists, this display is now part of a permanent collection displayed at our San Ramon, California, headquarters.

BMC: What is next for Chevron within the space of disability inclusion?

EM: We’re excited about our Neurodiversity Pilot for IT Support. An opportunity exists to be the first major oil company to establish a Neurodiversity Program within Chevron to attract IT talent (Software Engineering, Security, Data Science) from the neurodiversity population, which is a largely untapped talent pool. In addition, future opportunities exist to tap into this talent for other critical talent needs across Chevron.

To kick off our pilot, we have identified six supervisors with open roles in their IT organizations where we think a candidate on the spectrum could excel. We are in the process of identifying candidates to fill those roles. We are working with an external vendor and an internal SME to help provide an interview process that works differently than our traditional approach.

Link to a Harvard Business Review article, “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage.”

While the meaning of diversity has morphed as much as the world around us in recent years, and some may even believe it has become a corporate buzzword, the truth of the matter is many employers are failing the LGBT community and people with disabilities by not properly defining diversity in their initiatives.

According to a 2017 report by Out and Equal Workplace Advocates, a nonprofit that tracks employment statistics for the LGBT community, 1 in 4 LGBT employees report experiencing employment discrimination in the last 5 years. Likewise, transgender people face double the rate of unemployment as the overall population, and nearly 1 in 10 LGBT employees have left a job because the environment was unwelcoming.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states in 2015, only 17.5 percent of people with a disability were employed — a steep contrast to the 65 percent of able-bodied individuals who were employed that year.

In 2017, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Con Ed), the utility company that provides New York City and Westchester County with electrical and gas services, was fined $800,000 by the EEOC for not hiring applicants with disabilities.

While some industries and places struggle more with diversity, such as high tech and television writers’ rooms, there are some organizations that are definitely hitting the diversity mark at the workplace.

Miguel Castro, Global Lead for Culture and Identity at SAP, shares LGBT people have a lot to offer to employers.

“In today’s world,” he said, “we know a commitment to inclusion is much more than a cultural ‘nice to have.’ In fact, it is proven that companies that are LGBT-inclusive are 72 percent more likely to attract allies as employees and increase productivity.”

“SAP is an active member,” Castro continued, “in recruitment and technology fairs targeting the LGBT and ally community across the globe, with examples like Lesbians Who Tech in San Francisco, and Sticks & Stones and #UNIT in Berlin.”

In addition to having LGBT-focused initiatives, SAP also has a division that actively recruits and supports people with disabilities. SAP’s “Differently Abled” area is lead by Stefanie Nennstiel, and the unit runs programs such as the world renowned Autism at Work, which helps people with autism enter the workforce, as well as SAP Software Accessibility, which ensures the highest levels of access guidelines are enforced across products.

Although some organizations are thriving as a result of their diversity strategies, there are far more that are simply getting worse when it comes to integrating inclusivity into their day-to-day operations.

Tammie Stevens, Daily Living Skills Trainer and Vocational Assessor for the Center of Vision Enhancement (COVE) in Merced, CA, a training facility for blind or visually impaired people, believes companies that struggle with diversity are organizations that have an antiquated perspective on diversity.

“Businesses focus so much on race,” she said, “that they leave everyone else out of the conversation. They don’t engage the communities they want to hire from and, instead, make assumptions on what will work.”

“For people with disabilities,” she continued, “this means that companies draw to conclusions on what we can or cannot do. They don’t realize that having a disability means being creative and resourceful on a daily basis, because we constantly have to adapt ourselves to our environments.”

As the definition of diversity continues to change, organizations that routinely reposition their inclusivity goals will find themselves at the heart of innovation.

“We are committed to inclusion,” said Emily Minardi, associate marketing director of Rice Krispies Treats, “and we want everyone to have access to messages on our packaging.”

In the summer of 2017, Rice Krispies Treats released writable wrappers, which made it possible for parents to pen messages onto the wrapper of the chewy snack. While the message sharing became a popular way for families to bond over the lunch hour, it was 11-year-old Eme Butler-Mitchell, a blind student and musician, who reminded Rice Krispies Treats that not everyone had access to the written notes.

“With more than 62,000 blind and visually impaired children across the U.S.,” shared Minardi, “it was important to us to find a way to include this community.”

Rice Krispies Treats partnered with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) — the largest blindness organization in the U.S. — and began the process of making the Rice Krispies Treats writable wrappers inclusive to children and parents with vision loss.

“When we were approached by Kellogg’s,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the NFB, “we were very excited at the opportunity to raise the profile of blind people. There was a focus on building awareness around the idea that tech has not replaced Braille, and that Braille is still important.”

“In the U.S.,” continued Riccobono, “the idea of putting Braille on packaging has not gotten really far. Kellogg’s is the first to make such commitment, and I hope this serves as a springboard for more package and consumer goods with Braille.”

The stickers are heart shaped and the Braille dots are well defined on the adhesive paper; the eight colorful messages range from “Love You Lots” to “Good Luck.” The re-recordable audio device is for auditory learners, or kids who do not read Braille, and are rectangular shaped. It opens up like a book and plays a 10 second voice message. The box fits two Rice Krispies squares, and allows for voice messages to be re-recorded up to 1,000 times.

“This is our first campaign with a Braille focus,” said Minardi, “but Kellogg’s has a long history of working with the blind community.”

“Our founder,” she continued, “W.K. Kellogg, went blind near the last ten years of his life. He instilled a culture of inclusion that is still going strong today.”

While supplies last, you can obtain a free sheet of Braille stickers or an audio device at https://www.ricekrispies.com/en_US/love-notes/braille-stickers.html